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Recap: KU basketball displays rim dominance in win over TCU

KU's Andrew Wiggins.

A quick look back at KU’s 91-69 victory over TCU ...

Biggest Takeaway

Here's what KU's offense can look like when it's not crippled by turnovers.

The Jayhawks' 1.359 points per possession was their best offensive mark of the year, and not surprisingly, it came on a day when KU had its fifth-best performance as far as turnovers go (14.9 percent).

Here's the interesting thing: On non-turnover possessions, KU's offense actually was more efficient in its previous game against Baylor. The Jayhawks scored 78 points in 48 non-TO possessions against the Bears (1.625 PPP) compared to 91 points in 57 non-TO possessions against TCU (1.600 PPP).

Granted, some of that difference was because of a worse free-throw percentage for KU against TCU (66 percent), but the point remains ... this Jayhawks offense can potentially be one of Bill Self's best if it learns to take care of the ball.

M.O.J. (Most Outstanding Jayhawk)

No drama with this pick: Andrew Wiggins was clearly the best player on the court Saturday. His final offensive line was off the charts: He posted 1.43 points per possession while taking on a huge offensive load (ending 33 percent of KU's possessions when he was in). Though Wiggins did show more assertiveness on the offensive end, the best thing he did was simply make shots. The freshman was 3-for-4 on 2-point jumpers (most of them from about 18 feet) and 2-for-4 on 3-pointers, which later opened up driving lanes to help him get to the line 10 times. Quietly, Wiggins is having one of the best foul-drawing seasons in the Self era, as his 6.1 free throws attempted per game rank only behind Wayne Simien (6.7 in 2004-05; 6.4 in 2003-04) and Thomas Robinson (6.1 in 2011-12).

Best of the Rest …

2. Wayne Selden Jr. — His best game in a while; was just the second time all season that he went an entire game without recording a turnover; finished shots at the rim (4-for-4) and assisted 21 percent of KU's field goals in his 31 minutes.

3. Perry Ellis — Had outstanding production on the glass, pulling down 26.9 percent of KU's missed shots and 38.2 percent of TCU's misses; limited himself to one turnover in 27 minutes and now has just four in six Big 12 games; rare off day on close shots, as he was 1-for-7 at the rim (his season percentage is still a well-above-NCAA-average 66.3 percent).

4. Joel Embiid — You can't be much more active than Embiid was in his 19 minutes, but that wasn't always a good thing for KU; his good numbers were defensive rebounding percentage (33.9 percent) and block percentage (rejecting 15.4 percent of TCU's 2s while he was in); still finished with team-worst 0.96 PPP while ending a whopping 43 percent of KU's possessions, as he struggled with turnovers (three) and didn't shoot it great (4-for-8 from 2, 6-for-11 from line).

5. Brannen Greene — Productive line in his 10 minutes; made both of his field goals, including a 3, and added a steal and assist to go with a turnover.

Tough-Luck Line

Not many Jayhawks to pick from for this spot, but I'm going with Naadir Tharpe based on Self's postgame comments. The coach said the junior was a "non-factor" against TCU, and he also was riding the point guard for his defense throughout the game. Tharpe's numbers still weren't bad, as he had four assists, a steal and no turnovers in his 20 minutes. It is surprising, though, that he took no shots for just the second time in the last two seasons.

Room For Improvement

It didn't end up mattering, but KU's defense was not good against TCU. The Horned Frogs' 1.03 points per possession was their second-best mark in seven conference games, and even though KU extended its defensive pressure against TCU, it didn't result in a higher number of turnovers (TCU's turnover percentage was 14.9 percent). The Jayhawks also didn't do a good job of avoiding whistles, as TCU had its second-best free-throw rate of Big 12 play while putting in 21 of 25 fouls shots.

Stat of the Day

For a second straight game, KU dominated by getting more easy shots than its opponent. According to Hoop-Math.com, 34 of KU's 54 field-goal attempts against TCU on Saturday came at the rim (63 percent); to give some context, the NCAA average for percentage of shots at the rim is 38.3 percent. As a result, the Jayhawks made 27 of 44 2-pointers (61.3 percent), while the Horned Frogs made 18 of 41 2s (43.9 percent).

Bottom Line

KU's defense wasn't great on Saturday, but that was irrelevant because the offense turned it up to a different level.

According to StatSheet.com, Saturday's game against TCU was the f0urth-most efficient offensive performance by a Self team in a Big 12 game and also was the best against a conference opponent in the last three seasons.

It helped that KU was great on the offensive glass (pulling down 45.5 percent of its misses) and worked it around for easy shots, but the fact that the Jayhawks limited themselves to just 10 turnovers was one the biggest reasons for the offensive explosion.

The Jayhawks now rank seventh nationally in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency measure, and they could even go up from there if Saturday is the first step towards a team that better values its possessions.